Research from South Africa finds that stakeholder views of rooftop solar are often misinformed, with the belief that municipal electricity revenue is a ‘cash cow’ proving not supported by system-wide data.
Some of the talking points influencing the narratives around rooftop solar in South Africa are not supported by national data, according to new research.
Josh Dippenaar and Bernard Bekker, researchers from Stellenbosch University, collated system-wide data to test the actuality of narratives currently dominating South African energy discourse.
Their dataset comprised national tariffs covering all 165 licensed municipal distributors in South Africa with cost-of-supply results for each customer category, wholesale purchase prices from utility Eskom, assumptions about residential and C&I solar PV uptake and a qualitative analysis of primary stakeholder sources and municipal audit findings. The data was used to explore narratives around revenue generation, cost recovery, systemic inefficiencies and regulatory interventions.
Dippenaar and Bekker’s findings are presented in the research paper Who pays for rooftop solar? Cost shifts, stakeholder perspectives and policy tensions in South Africa, available in the journal Energy Policy. The paper explains that with around 10% of national installed generation capacity now lying behind the meter, debates around rooftop solar in South Africa are becoming increasingly polarized.
